Taking strong note of the alleged rape of a girl in Noida, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has asked Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati to ensure the safety of women in the state, specially the suburbs adjoining the capital.

In a letter to Mayawati, NCW Chairperson Girija Vyas has said being a woman, the UP CM was in a better position to understand the problems being faced by women in her state and thus to solve them.

Observing that the crime against women scene in Uttar Pradesh was deteriorating day by day, Vyas said at a press conference in New Delhi that it was specially a problem in areas adjoining the capital like Ghaziabad and Noida.

An analysis by NCW of the nature of crime of the complaints shows that the largest number of rape cases were registered in Uttar Pradesh at 429 followed by Rajasthan at 107, Delhi at 72 and Haryana at 59.

The rape cases in Uttar Pradesh have also shown an increase of 30 per cent during 2007 as against 2003.

The commission has formed a two-member team to enquire into the incident which visited the scene of crime on Wednesday and met senior police officers investigating the case.

A 24-year old MBA student was allegedly gangraped by a group of five young men near a mall in sector 39 in Noida earlier this week.

Minister for Women and Child Development Renuka Choudhry had on Wednesday hit out at Mayawati for not being able to ensure safety of women in her state.